Portable power vaporizer



Feb. 7, 1933. F G wHm; 1,896,382

7 PORTABLE POWER VAPORIZER Filed June 12, 1929 'NVENTOR Fred & W/Y/fe BY ATTORN EY Patented Feb. 7, .1933

UNITED STATES PATENTF'V O FICE f FRED e. WHITE, or KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASsIeNoR 'ro WILLIAM H. JO DAN, or

- KAnsAs CITY, MISSOURI I PORTABLE 'rOwER VAPQRIZER Application filed June 12,

My invention relates to devices for deliver ing air blasts and more particularly to vaporizing apparatus, the principal Objects of the invention being to provide a conveniently portable air compressor andto reduce the expense incident to manufacture and use of power Vaporizers, whereby the benefits of vaporizing devices may be rendered more easily available to the public.

The use of apparatus for spraying and atomizing liquids has become wide spread and has contributed greatly to the control of disease. The most elfective method of applying certain medicaments and antiseptics is by T5 compressed air apparatus adapted to atomize the liquid and discharge it in vapor or gaseous 'form to surfaces to be treated.

Such apparatus requires under present practice either expensive and relatively mas- 2'0 sive air compressing machinery or tanks containing air under high pressure to provide a column of air. Many doctors Ofiices such as those of dentists, Opticians, surgeons, and general practitioners are now provided with vaporizing apparatus Operated by air from tanks.

Patients must visit the oflices for treatment and Obviously such visits are often impossible or made under serious disadvantages when the condition of the patient or the state of the weather render the treatment most desirable.

Home treatment, for increasing the fre-- quency of treatments, avoiding the expense of doctors fees, and to meet emergencies, is often eflected by the use of devices adapted to spray liquid and tending to atomize the liquid but failing to convert the liquid into vapor because of inadequate air pressure.

The home treatment apparatus further does not provide pressure adequate to convey the vapors into body cavities, for example, into the lungs.

Further objects of my invention therefore are to provide electrically Operated power Vaporizers which can be easily carried about, for home treatment and for use of medical men in making visits to patients, whereby the curative, palliative and preventive effects of liquids vaporized by air blasts at relatively high pressure may be more widely applied.

1929. Serial No.'370,426.

Further objects of the invention are to facilitate-handling of a portable vaporizer, to combine vaporizing elements with a cover to form a unit, and to support atomizing flasks by power vaporizing apparatus for transportation and convenient access. I

A further Object of the invention is'to adapt a portable power compressor forsuction use for treatments in which substances are tobe drawn from surfaces and particularly liquid substances are to be drawn-from body cavities. 5 f

In accomplishing these and other Objects of the invention, 1 have provided improved details of structure; the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portable power vaporizer constructed in accordance with my invention and provided with atomizing flasks, one flask being illustrated inoperative relation with theairblast producing elements.'' Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section showing current supply wires and an air delivery tube fragmentarily. V J

I Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 -3, Fig.2. i

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective view of operatively connected portions of an atomizing flask and anair delivery tube.

Referring in detail to the drawing: p w 1 designates abase comprisinga rectangular block, 2 a motor adapted to be operated at different speeds by means of a rheostat or the like, not shown, fixed to the base having a shaft 3, and 4 a cable forsupplying current to the motor. 7

An air delivering unit 5 is fixed to the base adjacent the motor for operative relation of I the shaft with the unit and comprises a compressor represented by acasing 6 enclosing members suitably geared to the motor, for example a rotary compressor directly connected thereto for operation by the motor to compress and discharge air. Tubes such as 7 are connected respectively with the inlet an the outlet of the compressor. 7 v

A flexible tube or hose 8 may be connected by. a sleeve 9 tothe particular tube 7 adapted 111.

for a selected use of the device, for suction or blast purposes, and illustrated as connected with the outlet tube in Fig. 1 to complete a conduit for conducting air under pressure for use, and to the inlet tube in Fig. 2.

The compressor is adapted for delivering a stream of air under pressure through a nozzle member 10 including a head 11 having the usual tapering discharge end providing the normal air outlet port, and a supplemental air outlet port 12, the nozzle being mounted on the end of the hose for atomizing fluid contained in atomizing flasks 13 of ordinary construction having air-conducting tubular members 14 provided with inlet sockets to receive the discharge end of the nozzle. 7

The nozzle is provided with the air relief outlet port for escape of air currents when a flask is mounted in communication with the discharge port of the nozzle and the compressor is operating, but it is not desired to permit flow of air through the nozzle. The relief port may be covered and closed for restricting the column of air to passage through the tubular member of the flask device. The air will flow through said supplemental outlet when the same is open since 1 less resistance is offered by this outlet.

A housing 15 is mounted in covering relation with the motor and casing and comprises a hollow shield or cover including parallel vertical end walls 16, a vertically extending rear wall 17 a top Wall 18, and a front wall 19 having an 'arcuate upper portion 20 provided with openings 21 to receive the flasks.

The lower horizontal edges of the cover register substantially with the edges of the base.

The base is adapted to support the motor and casing adjacent the rear edge of the base and the wall of the cover, and thus provide a space 22 between the operating elements and the front wall to receive the flasks mounted in the cover openings.

Preferably tubular pocket members 23 are further provided for supporting the flasks in the openings, having integral horizontalbottom or floor portions 24 for supporting the flasks above the base and above the lower edges of the walls.

The pockets have arcuate upper edges conforming to the contour and position of the edges of the openings, and are secured tothe cover preferably by spot welding.

Resilient flask-retaining members 25 are mounted in the pockets adjacent the front edges of the openings each preferably comprising fingers 26 having arcuate upper ends 27 extending vertically upwardly from the floors of the pockets and inwardly from the vertical walls of the pockets, and lower ends anchored in fixed position at the bottoms of the pockets. The arcuate upper ends 27 are curved away from the axes of the pockets to receive the bottoms of the flasks when insertizing flasks.

ed in the openings for facilitating the installation of the flasks in the pockets, the flasks tensioning the spring fingers and being latched thereby to the cover.

The members 27 preferably include anchoring and fixing portions 28 comprising disklike bodies or feet bent laterally and substantially right angularly from the bottom edges of the fingers and adapted to fit snugly in the pockets, the fingers comprising preferably integral strips split to provide a pair of upstanding flanges which are bent inwardly slightly from right angular relation with the feet so that they may yieldingly receive the flasks and latch the same to the cover. The fingers are also preferably curved horizontally so that they conform substantially to the arcuate inner periphery of the pockets.

The cover is provided with lateral inturned flanges 30 at the lower edges of its walls adapted to receive connecting means such as screws 31 extending through the base for attaching the cover to the base. Openings 32 are provided in one end wall of the cover, so that tubes 7 may project through the cover into the outlet and inlet openings of the compressor to receive the hose 8 for blast or suction use. The metal sleeve 9 may be mounted on the hose to protect the same from the edges of the openings.

A handle 33 is fixed to the top wall of the cover as by screws 34 so that when the cover is attached to the base the device may be (lifted and transported by means of the han- In assembling the device, the pockets are mounted in the openings and secured to the cover with the upper edges of the pockets abutting the edges of the openings. The retaining members are inserted in the pockets, the disk-like footing members resting on the floors of the pockets and latchingly engaging the side walls thereof. The fingers of each member are thus supported and fixed in vertically extending position at one side of a pocket and inclining inwardly upwardly for engagement by a flask.

The motor and air conditioning devices are relatively small and the provision of the cover attachable to the base produces a portable and conveniently handled apparatus which may be moved to any position accessible to the operator for selective use of atom- The flasks containing differentliquids are thus rendered available and may be carried about with the operating mechanism, without hazard of displacement, and are firmly latched to the cover to prevent movement of the flasks while the device is being transported.

The cover is preferably, given a coating of enamel that conceals the joints between the walls and between the pockets and the edges of the front wall openings.

Particular attention is called to the opening of the nozzle member through which the blast may escape and over which the thumb of the operator may be placed to compel the flow of the air current into atomizing relation with the flask. In ordinary practice a manually operable valve is mounted in the nozzle for controlling the blast, since air under pressure is usually supplied from a tank, and flow of air from the tank is suspended when an air blast is not desired for atomizing fluid in a flask. In my device, however, which includes a rotary compressor having a blade fixed to the motor shaft and thus provides for continuous compression of air, I prefer to waste the air compressed when it is not directed into the atomizing tube, since closing of the passage and stoppage of air flow would cause the compressor to develop excessive heat and result in an unnecessary use of electric power. It is more economical to allow the air to escape, since a relatively small amount of electricity is re quired to actuate the motor for operating the compressor when air moves through the hose and outwardly therefrom with relative freedom.

The device including only the air compressing elements above described may be employed in establishments such as jewelers shops, barber shops, and the like, for delivering air blasts or for suction purposes, the light weight and low cost permitting provision of separate apparatus for each operator, and may easily be carried from placev to place, for example by operators making business calls. The device has obvious uses as a household appliance. The apparatus may be provided with means for varying the pressure of air, and such means preferably comprises a control on the motor.

The chief value of the invention however consists in the provisions for combination of he air blast delivery means with atomizing flasks. The complete device may be produced at a relatively low cost, and to weigh so little, for example, five or six pounds, that it may be easily carried about. A physician may therefore conveniently carry the device on his visits to patients and because of the relatively low cost, the patients themselves may own power Vaporizers, which they may take from room to room, or on journeys. Electrical power is almost universally available for energizing the motor.

The apparatus may be employed for discharging columns of vapor of liquids adapted for various uses, for example treatment of open wounds, softening and removal of dressing of wounds, and application of deodorizers, disinfectants, and antiseptics to superficial areas.

Because of its effective vaporization of liquids, the device is particularly useful for applying medicaments to body orifices, for example, for the treatment of hay fever, rose fever, tonsilitis, and the like. Because of the relatively high pressure at which the vapor may be discharged the apparatus may charged by the apparatus enables the patient to employ vapor instead of liquid in spray or stream form for douche purposes, and thus in many instances not only accomplish more effective treatment but avoid the possible disadvantages of treatment by medicaments in liquid form.

The ability of the user to apply vapor instead of a spray comprising drops of liquid is particularly valuable when the medicament is to be discharged into the mouth, for example into the lungs in which case a liquid spray would tend tochoke the patient.

While the use of the device either for draining cavities or for applying medicaments will be preferably subject to the advice of physicians, widespread distribution and common knowledge of helpful remedies and antiseptics harmless to normal tissue suggest extensive safe service of the device.

The provision for a plurality of-flasks conattached to the'compressor tube for spraying liquids on delivering streams of liquid, and for other special purposes, for example, having fittings for treating particular areas such as the scalp.

What claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a portable vaporizer of'the character described including a vaporizing unit and a plurality of medicament containing flasks adapted to be selectively connected with said T unit, a rectangular base member supporting the vaporizing unit, a cover member conforming in shape .to the base member and having end wall portions and side wall portions formed integrally with a top wall por--1 tion and merging therewith in arcuate curved portions, the curved portlon at one side extending over the vaporizing unit and r the curved portion at the other side having substantially oval-shaped openings and co-- operating with the adjacent side wall portion .to enclose a space for said flasks, tubular shaped pocket members fixed to the edges of said openings and depending within said space for supporting the flasks, and a handle 'member fixed to "the" cover member between 1 said curved portions whereby the flasks tend to counterbalance the vaporizing unit when the vaporizer is transported.

2. In a portable vaporizerof the charac- I ter described including a vaporizing unit and a plurality of medicament containing flasks adapted to be selectively connected with said unit, a base member supporting the .i vaporizing unit at one side thereof, a cover 1 member including a hollow shield complementary to the base member and having longitudinally extending curved portions eX- tending over said unit and over a space adjacent said unit to accommodate said flasks, one of the curved portions having openings through which the flasks are inserted, means 7 supported in said openings and depending into said space for supporting the flasks, and

a handle fixed to said cover intermediate said formed integrally with a top wall portion I v and merging therewith in arcuate" curved portions, the curved portion at one side extending over the vaporizing unit and the curved portion at the otherside having substantially oval-shaped openings and cooperating with the adjacent side wall to enclose a space for said flasks, tubular shaped pocket members fixed to the edges of said openings and depending within said space for supporting the flasks, a handle member fixed to the cover member between said curved portions whereby the flasks tend to counterbalance the vaporizing unit when the vaporizer is transported, and means in said pocket members for frictionally engaging said flasks to prevent their displacement.

In testimony whereof I ai'flx my signature.

- FRED G. l/VHITE. 

